thank you for the link! I never name my stuff, and it is getting to the point where I have to! I have 3 different salad/pasta plates, and get confused, (also customers) with what they want, what I need to make, etc.

I have been potting,on and off, for 30 some years and never named a pot. About one year ago I switched to sculpture, doing busts and mask. Yes these take on personalities and the piece itself requests to be named. Maybe if I had named my pots, I would still be potting.

I had the good fortune to have a vase of mine be awarded second in show at a 3-D exhibition. I was somewhat embarrassed that the announcement of the awards and honorable mentions had my piece as "Untitled Vase". At least they had mentioned my name, even spelled it correctly. Now when I enter a piece into a show I think up a name for each entry. Not going to have that happen again.

Now for my "every day" production pieces, I don't go so far as to name them, even for function or descriptive purposes, and in some instances that has been beneficial. Two of main pieces are raku dog and cat figures. I make them somewhat indistinct so a buyer can imagine their pet, or that of a friend they wish to give one, is reflected in the piece. Sometimes the line gets pretty wiggly between cat and dog, and many have not chosen the species that I had assigned in my mind during making. In that instance, the customer is always right. I do hate it when they ask me "What is this supposed to be?" and I tell them I intended a cat (or dog), and they say, "Okay, I was looking for a dog (or cat)."